Have door panel trim clips on hand in case they break when removing

Performance Gain:

Functioning power window

Complementary Modification:

Replace motor and regulator as a pair

The window regulator is the mechanical track and guide for lifting the door window glass. The front door of your vehicle has a window regulator lifting arm, similar to the rear. They each have an electric motor and function similarly. The regulator are constructed of a metal body with arms, guides and a toothed drive driven by an electric motor.

The electric window motor can be serviced separately; however they do not fail that often. You will need to swap the electric motor over to the new window regulator you are replacing. The electric motor can be installed in any position as it does not have a mechanical stop. Do not worry about the installation orientation when reinstalling.

The most common failure in the power window system is the window regulator drive teeth. The teeth can strip out on the motor and the regulator unit. Be sure to inspect the teeth on both items when servicing.

When replacing a window regulator, it is important to inspect the window guide and seal. The seal can wear and this increases friction on the window when going up and down, which stresses the window regulator. This can lead to premature wear of your window regulator and repeat failures. If needed, replace this component also. The window guide channel mounted in the door can come loose at times. The rivet can loosen, causing a binding window. The fix for this is easy, if the guide hasn't been damaged, just drill out the old rivet and install a new one.

If your window is loose, inspect the plastic retaining clips, as they may be worn out. If your window seems to go up crooked, give it a push and a pull, if it moves a few inches in any direction, the clips may be faulty. Inspect them, if they are not worn out or broken, replace the regulator. These clips or plastic slides are located in an aluminum channel in the bottom of the window glass.

Remember your car may have been serviced before and parts replaced with different size fasteners used in the replacement. The sizes of the nuts and bolts we give may be different from what you have so be prepared with different size sockets and wrenches.

Protect your eyes, hands and body from fluids, dust and debris while working on your vehicle. If working with the electrical system, disconnect the battery before beginning. Always catch fluids in appropriate containers and properly dispose of any fluid waste. Recycle parts, packaging and fluids when possible. Never work on your vehicle if you feel the task is beyond your ability.

Our vehicle may vary slightly from yours as models do change and evolve as they grow older. If something seems different, let us know and share your info to help other users. Questions or want to add to the article? Leave a comment below. When leaving a comment, please leave your vehicle information.

Figure 1

The window regulator (green arrow) is the mechanical track and guide for lifting the door window glass. The front door of your vehicle has a window regulator lifting arm, similar to the rear. They each have an electric motor (red arrow) and function similarly. The regulator are constructed of a metal body with arms, guides and a toothed drive driven by an electric motor. Start by removing the door panel. See our tech article on door panel removing.

Working at the bottom of the door speaker, remove the T25 Torx (red arrow). Then pull the speaker away from the door. Disconnect the electrical connector (green arrow) by pulling it straight out of the speaker.

Lower the window to the bottom of its travel. Reconnect the window switch and lower the window. Stay clear of the window glass and the regulator hen operating the window with the door panel removed. You could get hurt if caught up in the mechanism. Once lowered, work through the access hole in the bottom right corner of the door. Use a hook tool to pull the retaining clip off the window guide and regulator arm (red arrow). Then pull the window arm (yellow arrow) out of the guide (green arrow).

Raise the window until you can see the regulator arm through the access hole. The window may want to go up crooked when raising it. If it binds or raises crooked, move it in small increments, adjusting window position between each increment. Do not attempt to adjust window position when it is in motion. Use a hook tool to pull the retaining clip off the window guide and regulator arm (red arrow).

Remove the three T30 Torx window motor (red arrow) fasteners (green arrows). Then pull the fasteners straight up to remove them from the window regulator. Install the window motor on the new regulator. Then install and tighten the fasteners. Install the window regulator into the door top first then the bottom. Install the U-clips back onto the glass slides. Then, slide the window glass down and pop it into the regulator. Be sure it if sully seated, listen for audible pop. Remaining installation steps are the reverse of removing. Properly route the wiring harness as they were before and be sure that the window glass is aligned correctly in the rubber guides and seals. When the vehicle battery is disconnected or power window components have been replaced, you have to initialize the power windows. A sign that you may need to initialize the window is your one touch window feature is not working as expected. Use the following steps to initialize your power windows: Open the window to the bottom of the travel. Hold the window switch to close until the window glass reaches the top of its travel and hold for 5 seconds. Activate one touch operation to close the window. Once the window closes, confirm that one touch operation works in both directions of the window glass travel. If so initialization is complete. If not, repeat the steps. A Volvo scan tool can also be used to initialize the windows.

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